By Mike Khemmoro
People keep saying Michigan’s cannabis market is “broken.” Prices are collapsing, shelves are overflowing with flower, and operators are getting squeezed. But let’s be real: this isn’t just Michigan. Every state ends up here. Too much supply, too many rules, and not enough demand diversity.
The problem isn’t simply oversupply; it’s monoculture. With unlimited licenses and investors chasing the same playbook, the market is flooded with flower. When everyone sells the same product, prices collapse.
In 2020, Michigan’s wholesale flower averaged around $2,000 a pound. Today, it often trades for under $800. That swing doesn’t just hurt margins — it wipes out entire businesses. The same thing happened in Oregon and Oklahoma. Both states overshot demand with too much production and now their markets are defined by consolidation, closures, and a race to the bottom. Michigan is just the latest chapter of the same story.
Why Extracts Don’t Fix Anything
Some people will tell you the answer is to turn surplus flower into vapes, edibles, or concentrates. Sounds clever — but it doesn’t fix oversupply, it compounds it.
One pound of flower might move through the market once. But processed into oil, that same pound can fuel thousands of vape hits or infused products. You’ve stretched the supply without creating new customers. Demand hasn’t changed — it’s the same people consuming the same cannabis, just in a different form.
I’ve sat in meetings where “more extracts” was pitched as the solution, and every time it’s clear: that’s not demand creation. That’s just rearranging the chairs on a sinking ship.
The Real Fix: Build Demand
The only sustainable fix is to build demand, not just repackage supply. Michigan needs more spaces where people can experience cannabis in different …
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Author: High Times Contributors / High Times
